This is what mental illness looks like

 

A friend for over thirty years reached out to Mrs. Pessimist to understand why she liked Trump. My wife wrote back with an optimistic assessment of what she saw. Her friend, who has been a very successful executive in the healthcare industry, sent back this rant:

I am watching Fox News regularly now to understand Trump supporters’ perspective and to see if I can find a truthful path to understanding what Trump is doing beyond revenge, retribution, and controlling the news, and therefore his supporters with conspiracy theories, fear mongering non-truths, name calling, and, frankly, anger and bullying. And, I can factually say that most of what comes from Fox News is spin and there is alot of “real” news not covered. Trump and the right wing media have created a non-truthful universe to control voters and the public.

 I know you love Fox News and are no doubt offended by this comment. I just wanted to share my honest perspective. I am unable to find the allegiance to truth and universal good in Donald Trump and the MAGA movement based on facts. Pundits spin, right wing apologists, rationalizers, yes, it’s there.

I take great comfort in knowing you have steadfast faith in Trump and I am guessing Project 2025 which is being implemented although Trump denied knowing anything about it repeatedly in interviews before election. I guess that lie would be labeled smart politics?!

So we believe in two different realities. Quite crazy making for me as there is only one fact, one truth.

It will be interesting to see how history is written during these times.  I can only look forward to the 2026 elections (if Trump allows them and they aren’t tampered with) and see what voters vote for.

I hope the USA I know and love can survive the next few years. Evolve? Yes, of course. Be destroyed by Project 2025, I pray daily that won’t happen.

I hope you and your family are doing well.

 Many years ago I had a close friend who suffered from bipolar manic depression. His rambling ideations were very similar. Who knew that Project 2025 was the cause of everything evil in the world?

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  1. E. Kent Golding Moderator
    E. Kent Golding
    @EKentGolding

    Times are stressful.   Both the left and the right try to make things  more stressful to provoke people into ill thought out decisions and panic.  Best to focus on what one can personally control,  and to spend time thinking.

    I haven’t read Project 2025.  If I did, I suspect I would find it benign and reasonable.

    • #1
  2. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    One can try the experiment I did a couple of years ago. Listen to NPR/PBS for one week. The next week, go with “talk radio” and conservative news sources. You will think the reports originated in different countries. The gap can’t be bridged. 

    • #2
  3. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Your friend has been lied to about the Pee-Pee Tape, about Russian collusion, about “very fine people” at Charlottesville, about Trump telling people to drink bleach, about Covid-19 originating in a wet market, about the Border Patrol whipping illegals from horseback, about the noose in Bubba Wallace’s garage, about Hunter’s laptop, about the efficacy of the Covid vaccines, about the safety of the Covid vaccines, about the “Bloodbath” …  his reality is a lot more flexible than he imagines it to be.

    • #3
  4. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Percival (View Comment):

    Your friend has been lied to about the Pee-Pee Tape, about Russian collusion, about “very fine people” at Charlottesville, about Trump telling people to drink bleach, about Covid-19 originating in a wet market, about the Border Patrol whipping illegals from horseback, about the noose in Bubba Wallace’s garage, about Hunter’s laptop, about the efficacy of the Covid vaccines, about the safety of the Covid vaccines, about the “Bloodbath” … his reality is a lot more flexible than he imagines it to be.

    I have an acquaintance who says that David Brooks is his “guru” for social issues and Paul Krugman is his “guru” for economic issues. Reads the NYTimes religiously and considers himself well informed. I suspect he listens to NPR as well. He had no idea about Biden’s mental decline at all. Uniformed on significant issues, misinformed on everything else. 

    • #4
  5. Chris O Coolidge
    Chris O
    @ChrisO

    Combine this post with the @keithlowery post on JD Vance and you have the answer. Mrs. Pessimist’s friend likely encountered some assertions that, if believed, would mean she made sub-optimal choices in what to believe was good policy, and who to believe when it comes to news reporting. She recognizes spin on the right, that’s good, but won’t acknowledge it as a possibility in her news sources? That’s not a logical position.

    Anyway, I was going to comment on the other thread about the aggressive response received anytime you even inadvertently cause doubt in others’ choices. It’s happened to me here on Ricochet as well. Mrs. P’s friend’s response strikes me as the same.

    An angry response suggests that someone is not secure in their perspective.

    • #5
  6. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    So what does this person think of the many media sources that have overtly lied to her, and fabricated literal falsified for many years,  bullying, name calling, and venting virulent anger at anyone who questioned them? What does she think of the politicians and government administrators who over the last four years carried out vindictive punishment on people who disagreed with politician approved positions? 

    • #6
  7. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Southern Pessimist:

    A friend for over thirty years reached out to Mrs. Pessimist to understand why she liked Trump. My wife wrote back with an optimistic assessment of what she saw. Her friend, who has been a very successful executive in the healthcare industry sent back this rant:

    “I am watching Fox News regularly now to understand Trump supporters perspective and to see if I can find a truthful path to understanding what Trump is doing beyond revenge, retribution, and controlling the news, and therefore his supporters with conspiracy theories, fear mongering non-truths, name calling, and, frankly, anger and bullying. And, I can factually say that most of what comes from Fox News is spin and there is alot of “real” news not covered. Trump and the right wing media have created a non-truthful universe to control voters and the public.

    <snippage>

    It will be interesting to see how history is written during these times. I can only look forward to the 2026 elections (if Trump allows them and they aren’t tampered with) and see what voters vote for.

    I love the fact that the bolded part of the second paragraph was written by the same person who wrote the first paragraph.

    • #7
  8. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    So he didn’t mention a single policy that was bad. You notice that? The super anti-Trump stuff is never about policy. 

    • #8
  9. namlliT noD Member
    namlliT noD
    @DonTillman

    Southern Pessimist: Many years ago I had a close friend who suffered from bipolar manic depression. His rambling ideations were very similar.

    These aren’t “rambling ideations”, they’re the “talking points” on propaganda media.  Word for word.

    • #9
  10. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    namlliT noD (View Comment):

    Southern Pessimist: Many years ago I had a close friend who suffered from bipolar manic depression. His rambling ideations were very similar.

    These aren’t “rambling ideations”, they’re the “talking points” on propaganda media. Word for word.

    That just makes them rambling ideations once or twice removed arising from group psychoses.

    • #10
  11. OldPhil Coolidge
    OldPhil
    @OldPhil

    I have several long-time acquaintances who I see a lot on social media. They spout a lot of crazy stuff and seem close to going over the edge. 

    My wife has a long-time friend from HS and college who has literally gone insane. And I do mean literally. 

    • #11
  12. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    OldPhil (View Comment):

    I have several long-time acquaintances who I see a lot on social media. They spout a lot of crazy stuff and seem close to going over the edge.

    My wife has a long-time friend from HS and college who has literally gone insane. And I do mean literally.

    Would you consider creationism a mental illness? I find it normal for people to believe in nonsense but still function. 

    • #12
  13. Nohaaj Coolidge
    Nohaaj
    @Nohaaj

    Psychologically, I am told that if you are highly indoctrinated in one viewpoint, that a contrarian viewpoint will induce extreme levels of resistance, anger, frustration, fear, etc. 

    This is exacerbated by the media, left wing pols, continuing to reinforce the Mantra of “Hitler, despot, loss of democracy, totalitarian, lies, crime, lost constitution, etc” Hakeem proclaims they will fight in the halls, in the streets, to resist.

    Literally, there are tens of millions of Americans who would feel it is there duty to assassinate Trump, all of his cabinet, and any random Trump supporter “to save America”. 

    The speed that Trump is moving, is sure to add to the sense of panic and doom by the believers in the alt-universe. 

    I hope that the security forces protecting our leaders is up to the challenge.  They will be tested. 

    • #13
  14. Fritz Coolidge
    Fritz
    @Fritz

    The Trump-hating friend bears a strong resemblance to many people, and I mean about 70%-30%, in my area.

    In King County WA, over 73% of the vote went for Kamala Harris. 

    • #14
  15. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    As I type this, I’m listening to NPR’s All Things Considered, a program hosted by a relatively mindless twit. He is discussing Trump’s last week with two of the organization’s White House correspondents. They have it down pat. The phrasing, I mean: “Trump’s baseless claims . . .”, ” . . . stated without evidence”, ” . . . introducing chaos”, ” . . . puffery and posturing”, and so on. Don’t remember hearing this sort of windbaggery when they discussed Biden or Mayor Pete.

    Trump has broken these people.

    • #15
  16. Joker Member
    Joker
    @Joker

    Libs completely understand voting against Trump, but cannot come to terms with voting against Kamala.

    • #16
  17. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    • #17
  18. Nohaaj Coolidge
    Nohaaj
    @Nohaaj

    From Instapundit:

    https://x.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1885757516023312756/photo/1

     

    Actually, as many NGO flunkies and government bureaucrats lose their jobs in the coming months, it’s wise to remember Eric Hoffer’s words: “Nothing is so unsettling to a social order as the presence of a mass of scribes without suitable employment and an acknowledged status.”

    There needs to be a plan, as their response is likely to be drastic, and possibly dangerous.

    emphasis mine.

    • #18
  19. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    Nohaaj (View Comment):

    From Instapundit:

    https://x.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1885757516023312756/photo/1

     

    Actually, as many NGO flunkies and government bureaucrats lose their jobs in the coming months, it’s wise to remember Eric Hoffer’s words: “Nothing is so unsettling to a social order as the presence of a mass of scribes without suitable employment and an acknowledged status.”

    There needs to be a plan, as their response is likely to be drastic, and possibly dangerous.

    emphasis mine.

    They should learn to code.

    • #19
  20. Chris O Coolidge
    Chris O
    @ChrisO

    Can’t help but ask myself if I do the same thing and ignore other perspectives too much. I used to be tested daily at work by people who wanted a ‘gotcha’ moment with a conservative, so I made certain to know their opinions before they did. Just wording it like that suggests this has been going on a lot longer than Trump.

    It must also be acknowledged how things changed in the past twenty years or so. The chief thing is the employment of law enforcement powers against political rivals, and the criminalization and/or censoring of dissent. The media tone toward R’s went from bemused (thought sometimes unamused) tolerance to outright hostility.

    In short, it’s become an all or nothing pursuit for D’s, as in, we shall have it or burn it to the ground. Ironically, when they have it, they also burn it to the ground, literally so in several notable cities. They don’t seem to recognize consequences for their speech or actions. They pursue policies that are managerial in nature and ignore the core functions of government. They seem both blind and irrational, and I have some trouble accepting it. I have friends among them, after all.

    • #20
  21. Southern Pessimist Member
    Southern Pessimist
    @SouthernPessimist

    Nohaaj (View Comment):

    From Instapundit:

    https://x.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1885757516023312756/photo/1

     

    Actually, as many NGO flunkies and government bureaucrats lose their jobs in the coming months, it’s wise to remember Eric Hoffer’s words: “Nothing is so unsettling to a social order as the presence of a mass of scribes without suitable employment and an acknowledged status.”

    There needs to be a plan, as their response is likely to be drastic, and possibly dangerous.

    emphasis mine.

    Let me know what the plan should be. In addition to the former friend I described above, we have two friends who are married lesbians. We thoroughly enjoy their friendship but one of them has gone totally wacko. She deeply believes Trump is going to hunt down gay and lesbian couples and put them in prison. She and her partner have bought a home in Mexico and are moving there. I can’t believe there is any place on the planet more accommodating to gays than South Florida but she is terrified of what Trump will do.

    • #21
  22. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Southern Pessimist (View Comment):

    Nohaaj (View Comment):

    From Instapundit:

    https://x.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1885757516023312756/photo/1

     

    Actually, as many NGO flunkies and government bureaucrats lose their jobs in the coming months, it’s wise to remember Eric Hoffer’s words: “Nothing is so unsettling to a social order as the presence of a mass of scribes without suitable employment and an acknowledged status.”

    There needs to be a plan, as their response is likely to be drastic, and possibly dangerous.

    emphasis mine.

    Let me know what the plan should be. In addition to the former friend I described above, we have two friends who are married lesbians. We thoroughly enjoy their friendship but one of them has gone totally wacko. She deeply believes Trump is going to hunt down gay and lesbian couples and put them in prison. She and her partner have bought a home in Mexico and are moving there. I can’t believe there is any place on the planet more accommodating to gays than South Florida but she is terrified of what Trump will do.

    This is a serious question: Do you have any idea where/how she gets such a ridiculous idea? 

    I used to think it was an AI fake audio clip, but maybe it wasn’t when I heard Rachel Madcow asking, “Are you going to put people like me in a camp?” I have no idea whom she was asking nor what triggered the question. 

    • #22
  23. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Southern Pessimist (View Comment):

    Nohaaj (View Comment):

    From Instapundit:

    https://x.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1885757516023312756/photo/1

     

    Actually, as many NGO flunkies and government bureaucrats lose their jobs in the coming months, it’s wise to remember Eric Hoffer’s words: “Nothing is so unsettling to a social order as the presence of a mass of scribes without suitable employment and an acknowledged status.”

    There needs to be a plan, as their response is likely to be drastic, and possibly dangerous.

    emphasis mine.

    Let me know what the plan should be. In addition to the former friend I described above, we have two friends who are married lesbians. We thoroughly enjoy their friendship but one of them has gone totally wacko. She deeply believes Trump is going to hunt down gay and lesbian couples and put them in prison. She and her partner have bought a home in Mexico and are moving there. I can’t believe there is any place on the planet more accommodating to gays than South Florida but she is terrified of what Trump will do.

    Hmmm, are they members of “Queers for Palestine” too?  Seems that would be unsurprising.

    Maybe they’ll come skulking back to the US and hope nobody notices, like Ellen Degeneres.

    • #23
  24. Southern Pessimist Member
    Southern Pessimist
    @SouthernPessimist

    “This is a serious question: Do you have any idea where/how she gets such a ridiculous idea?”

    It is a serious question. That is why I started this conversation. I don’t have an answer.

    • #24
  25. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):
    So he didn’t mention a single policy that was bad. You notice that? The super anti-Trump stuff is never about policy. 

    Exactly. Stick to public policy. Don’t let it ever get off of that. It works for me. I suppose I get a little severe because for me it basically just comes down to ***public goods only*** and we are way, way too stupid and corrupt to ***”manage” inflation***.

    • #25
  26. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Percival (View Comment):

    This makes me insane how they lied about this. I’m not sure they got enough grief from Congress about it. I wish they were in jail. Nobody needed that shot except the really old and the really sick. It didn’t do a damn thing to cut down on the spread. 

    • #26
  27. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Chris O (View Comment):
    It must also be acknowledged how things changed in the past twenty years or so. The chief thing is the employment of law enforcement powers against political rivals, and the criminalization and/or censoring of dissent.

    It makes me insane. Nobody should need to worry about this. 

    Chris O (View Comment):
    They pursue policies that are managerial in nature and ignore the core functions of government

    It makes me crazy. 

    • #27
  28. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Chris O (View Comment):
    It must also be acknowledged how things changed in the past twenty years or so. The chief thing is the employment of law enforcement powers against political rivals, and the criminalization and/or censoring of dissent.

    It makes me insane. Nobody should need to worry about this.

    Chris O (View Comment):
    They pursue policies that are managerial in nature and ignore the core functions of government

    It makes me crazy.

    So insane/crazy that you still think we should have deflation, even though you acknowledge that inflation is necessary for our military posture to defend shipping, etc., which you say you wouldn’t trust to any other country.   :-)

    • #28
  29. Nohaaj Coolidge
    Nohaaj
    @Nohaaj

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Southern Pessimist (View Comment):

    Nohaaj (View Comment):

    From Instapundit:

    https://x.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1885757516023312756/photo/1

     

    Actually, as many NGO flunkies and government bureaucrats lose their jobs in the coming months, it’s wise to remember Eric Hoffer’s words: “Nothing is so unsettling to a social order as the presence of a mass of scribes without suitable employment and an acknowledged status.”

    There needs to be a plan, as their response is likely to be drastic, and possibly dangerous.

    emphasis mine.

    Let me know what the plan should be. In addition to the former friend I described above, we have two friends who are married lesbians. We thoroughly enjoy their friendship but one of them has gone totally wacko. She deeply believes Trump is going to hunt down gay and lesbian couples and put them in prison. She and her partner have bought a home in Mexico and are moving there. I can’t believe there is any place on the planet more accommodating to gays than South Florida but she is terrified of what Trump will do.

    Hmmm, are they members of “Queers for Palestine” too? Seems that would be unsurprising.

    Maybe they’ll come skulking back to the US and hope nobody notices, like Ellen Degeneres.

    You guys joke…

    But the people described in this thread are very, very real

    • #29
  30. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Nohaaj (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Southern Pessimist (View Comment):

    Nohaaj (View Comment):

    From Instapundit:

    https://x.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1885757516023312756/photo/1

     

    Actually, as many NGO flunkies and government bureaucrats lose their jobs in the coming months, it’s wise to remember Eric Hoffer’s words: “Nothing is so unsettling to a social order as the presence of a mass of scribes without suitable employment and an acknowledged status.”

    There needs to be a plan, as their response is likely to be drastic, and possibly dangerous.

    emphasis mine.

    Let me know what the plan should be. In addition to the former friend I described above, we have two friends who are married lesbians. We thoroughly enjoy their friendship but one of them has gone totally wacko. She deeply believes Trump is going to hunt down gay and lesbian couples and put them in prison. She and her partner have bought a home in Mexico and are moving there. I can’t believe there is any place on the planet more accommodating to gays than South Florida but she is terrified of what Trump will do.

    Hmmm, are they members of “Queers for Palestine” too? Seems that would be unsurprising.

    Maybe they’ll come skulking back to the US and hope nobody notices, like Ellen Degeneres.

    You guys joke…

    But the people described in this thread are very, very real

    Oh I know they’re real.  I’m just not sure they – or most of them, anyway – need to be taken seriously at all.

    • #30
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